Loom doff truck

ABSTRACT

A loom doff truck to doff full rolls of fabric from a loom which eliminates a great deal of manual labor. The truck has a hydraulic control system which allows the operator to automatically move the lifting elements into position and to move the roll of fabric into the storage bin on the truck.

United States Patent [1 1 Hunter et a1.

[ LOOM DOFF TRUCK [75]. Inventors: Carl P. Hunter, Red Springs, NC;

Charles W. Kay, Anderson, S.C.

[73] Assignee: Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg, SC.

22 Filed: Apr. 30, 1971 21 App1.No.:l39,003

[52] US. Cl 214/75 H, 180/103, 212/145, 280/1505, 298/10, 212/55, 212/57 [51] Int. Cl B60p l/54 [58] Field of Search 214/75 H, 501, DIG. 4; 180/103, 39 R; 212/145; 280/150.5

[56] Reierences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,282,450 11/1966 Atcheson 214/75 l-l 2,614,802 10/1952 McGihon 214/501 in] 3,797,679 Mar. 19, 1974 3,144,138 8/1964 Brown et a1. 212/145 1,235,280 7/1917 Blackburn 212/57 3,293,679 12/1966 Murphy 1 298/18 3,603,464 9/1971 Teodorescu 212/145 2,524,206 10/1950 Orendorff 180/103 3,026,004 3/1962 Rowell 180/103 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Lawrence J Oresky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Norman C. Armitage; H. William Petry; Earle R. Marden 5 7 ABSTRACT A loom doff truck to doff full rolls of fabric from a loom which eliminates a great deal of manual labor. The truck has a hydraulic control system which allows the operator to automatically move the lifting elements into position and to move the roll of fabric into the storage bin on the truck.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Pmmiimm 1914 3.797.679

N INVENTORS m CARL P.HUNTER BY CHARLES W.KAY

MZW

ATTORNEY PATENTED MR 1 9 I974 SHEET 2 [IF 4 INVENTORS CARL P. HUNTER CHARLES W. KAY

ATTORNEY PAIENIED m 1 9 I974 SHEET 3 OF 4 FIG. "3-

INVENTORS CARL P. HUNTER CHARLES W. KAY

ATTORNEY PATENTED "AR 1 9 I974 SHEET UF 4 FIG. -7-

ATTORNEY of full employment it is difficult to hire people to do this type of work.

Therefore it is an object of the invention to provide a loom doff truck which will eliminate a great deal of manual handling of the rolls of cloth and will expedite the doffing of such rolls from a loom.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent as the specification proceeds to discribe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a partially schematic view showing the new and improved loom doff truck in position adjacent a loom to be doffed;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the new and improved loom doff truck;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the truck stabilizing mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the stabilizing mechanism shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2 showing the roll storage container;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 showing the roll storage container in the dumping positionjand FIG. 7 is a schematic control diagram for the loom doff truck.

Looking now to FIG. 1 the loom doff truck, generally designated 10, is shown located in an alley of a weave room between two looms l2 and, 1 4 located on the opposite sides of the alley. In this position the truck can doff rolls of fabric 16 from four looms before it is moved up the alley. Electric power for the doffing cycle of the truck is obtained by electric sources (not show) located adjacent the looms to be doffed.

Thedoff truck is driven by a battery powered motor 18 mounted on the truck body 20 and steered by a suitable steering mechanism 22. Supported below the i frame 20 are wheels 24 and stabilizer rods 26. As will be hereinafter explained none of the elements of the doff truck other than the motor 18 can be actuated until the piston member 28 has been actuated to rotate and lower thestabilizer rods 26 to the position shown in FIG. 4. This is accomplished by supplying hydraulic fluid to piston 28 causing the piston rod 30 to rotate the stabilizer rods connected thereto downwardly and outwardly due to the downward movement of the pin member 32 following the groove 34 as the piston rod 30 is pushed down by the pressure of the hydraulic fluid in the piston against the piston head (not shown). Once the stabilizer rods 26 are rotated toa downward position perpendicular to the truck 10, the truck 10 will not topple sideways and the truck is now ready to doff cloth rolls 16 from the looms 14.

The main components of the boom structure 36 are hydraulically actuated by hydraulic fluid supplied to the reservoir 38 under pressure through hydraulic line 39 by pump 40 driven by electric piston 42. Mounted in the reservoir 38 and operably associated with the hydraulic fluid supply from pump 40 are six control valves which control the flow of hydraulic fluid to the operative members of the doff truck. Connected to the control valves are handles 43, 44, 46, 48, 50 and 52 to allow the operator to open the valves to supply hydraulic fluid to the operative elements of the doff truck.

Handle 43 controls the flow of hydraulic fluid to the piston 28 to control the position of the stabilizer rods 26. Handle 44 is connected to the control valve which supplies hydraulic fluid to the piston which raises the boom support member 54 up and down. Handle 46 controls the flow of hydraulic fluid to the boom rotation cylinder 56 to rotate the boom support member 54 either to the right or to the left depending on which side of the alley the loom to be doffed is located. Handle 48 is employed to control the extension and retraction of the telescoped boom members 58 and 60 to control the position of hydraulic winch motor 62 and winch line 64 relative to the looms l2 and 14. Hydraulic winch motor 62 is controlled by action of handle 50 while handle 52 controls the supply of hydraulic fluid to dump piston 66.

The dump piston 66 is pivotally connected at 68 to the truck body 20 at one end and to the roll storage container 69 at 70. The roll storage container 69 is pivotally supported by a shaft 72 rotably mounted in upright supports 74 which are welded or otherwise secured to the truck body 20.

It should be kept in mind that all the hydraulic control valves and pistons are double acting so that when the handles are pushed in one direction hydraulic fluid will be supplied in one direction and exhausted in the other and vice versa in order to obtain movement of the hydraulic actuated element in both directions, when desired.

OPERATION The initial step in the use of the improved loom doff truck is that an operator will disengage all the rolls 16 from the looms to be doffed and place the rolls on the floor. The doff truck will then move up the alley between the looms to be doffed and stopped in the desired position. The operator then plugs in the electrical cable to a 550 volt AC. power source 76 at the loom to provide a source of electricity. Looking now at FIG. 7, the operator moves switch 78 downward to energize relay coil 80 which pulls relay 82 to complete the circuit to coil 84 of the hydraulic pump motor 18. Hydraulic fluid is then supplied to piston 28 by actuation of handle 43 to lower and rotate the stabilizer rods 26 into the position shown in FIG. 4. As the rods 26 are being rotated into position switch 86 is made to lock in the relay coil 80 so that the pump 40 maintains a supply of hydraulic fluid for the function of the boom mechanism. At the same time switch 88 is disengaged to denergize the coil 90 of the truck motor so that the truck can not be moved until the stabilizer rods 26 have been retracted.

When the doff truck has been stabilized, the operator will actuate handles 44 and 46 to raise and rotate the boom support member to the desired position. Then handle 48 will be actuated to extend the telescoping boom members 58 and 60 to a position where the winch line 64 is over the roll to be picked up. Then the handle 50 is actuated to supply hydraulic fluid to the motor 62 to lower the winch line 64 and the pick-up clamps 92 to a position adjacent the roll 16. The operator then will place the roll in the clamps 92,- raise the winch line 64, retract the telescoping boom members 58 and 60 and rotate the boom support member 54 to a position over the roll storage container 69. Then the winch line 64 is lowered and the roll 16 is deposited in the container 69. The above operation is then repeated until all the rolls 16 have been picked up that can be reached at the particular doff truck location. Then the truck is moved to another position and the above operation continues.

When the truck is full it is moved to a grading table (not shown) which has a height lower than the top of the roll storage container 69. The truck is again stabilized and handle 52 is actuated to supply hydraulic fluid to piston 66 to pivot the container 69 to the position shown in FIG. 6 and the rolls will roll out the container 69 onto the grading table where the doffed rolls will be inspected and graded. The truck will then be returned to the weave room for further doffing of looms.

It can readily be seen that we have provided a loom doff truck which lessens considerably the manual labor involved in doffing looms and also decreases the amount of time necessary to do so. Furthermore, the new and improved loom doff truck reduces the possibility of injury to the personnel performing this job and eases the problem of obtaining personnel to perform this function.

Although we have described in detail the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is contemplated that many changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of our invention and we desire to be limited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

l. A doff truck for a loom comprising a frame, wheel means supporting said frame, means mounted on said frame to drive said truck, means to carry a roll of fabric mounted on frame including an overhead boom which is capable of handling a roll of fabric beyond the boundary of the frame of said doff truck, a roll storage container mounted on said frame, stabilizer means pivotally mounted on said frame to prevent said truck from tipping over, means to automatically pivot said stabilizer means outwardly when actuated and means to prevent said means to drive said truck from being actuated when said stabilizer means are pivoted outwardly.

2. The truck of claim 1 wherein said roll storage container is pivotally mounted and said truck includes a means to pivot said roll storage containers when desired to dump rolls of fabric therefrom. 

1. A doff truck for a loom comprising a frame, wheel means supporting said frame, means mounted on said frame to drive said truck, means to carry a roll of fabric mounted on frame including an overhead boom which is capable of handling a roll of fabric beyond the boundary of the frame of said doff truck, a roll storage container mounted on said frame, stabilizer means pivotally mounted on said frame to prevent said truck from tipping over, means to automatically pivot said stabilizer means outwardly when actuated and means to prevent said means to drive said truck from being actuated when said stabilizer means are pivoted outwardly.
 2. The truck of claim 1 wherein said roll storage container is pivotally mounted and said truck includes a means to pivot said roll storage containers when desired to dump rolls of fabric therefrom. 